FFVIII Amazing Race
by Sacred2001
Summary: Based on the hit reality TV series, 'the Amazing Race', nine teams set out in a grueling globetrotting race. The first team to get to the finish line wins the grand prize of 1 million gil!
1. Timber 1

_Ever watched that heart-pounding, teeth-clenching, jaw-dropping reality series 'The Amazing Race'? Imagine Squall and Rinoa being one of those infamous bickering couples, or the Trepies, Daniel and Rachel the niceties, Edea and Kadowaki the aunties of the team, and as always the goofy all guy team Zell and Irvine… Put them on a race around the FFVIII globe, outdoing each other to win one million gil. Well, this is how the race goes…_

**Balamb – 8.30 a.m. (Balamb Mean Time)**

The nine teams circled on a platform and in the middle stood Cid Kramer, who was the host of the event.

"There are eleven legs in this race where you will conduct a series of various tasks. At the end of the race there is a pit stop. You'll be given a certain amount of money at the beginning of the race, which you'll use to spend for the next leg, except for airline tickets that you don't need to pay for, and so saving money is an advantage. There is one fast forward pass at each leg where you can skip all tasks when it's been claimed. However, a team can only use it once for the rest of the race. The last team to arrive at the pit stop will be eliminated from the race. Three of these legs are non-elimination points where no team will be eliminated. The first team to reach the finish line will win 1,000,000 gil.

Across the clearing, over there, your luggage, and on top of them is a sealed envelope, which holds your first clue. After that the rest is up to you.

The world is waiting."

Squall tightened his grip on Rinoa's hand as the adrenaline pumped fiercely into his veins. Selphie wanted to hold Seifer's hand but was nastily refused.

"I did not want to team up with up in the first place anyway," Seifer said. Selphie only looked up at him with innocent puppy eyes. Edea and Kadowaki gave each other pats on the back.

"I'm glad my hubby makes a good host, doesn't he," Edea commented.

"Are you ready?" Cid shouted. The nine teams replied 'yeah' altogether.

"Go!"

The nine teams raced to their backpacks lying at the edge of the clearing. Jack was the first person to reach his luggage. He swiftly picked up the red envelope and tore it open to receive a written clue.

"King, hurry up!" Jack shouted at his partner who was still among the running group. King united with Jack, reading the clue together.

"Drive to Balamb Town and take the train to Timber. The first train will depart at 9.10 a.m. and the second will depart 40 minutes later. Hurry! Seats are on a first come first serve basis," Rachel read with enthusiasm.

"BALAMB STATION! YOU DRIVE I NAVIGATE!" Fujin ordered Raijin. Raijin immediately powered the engine of their convertible.

"Woohoo! Timber, here we come!" Zell screamed as he hopped into the back seat of the car.

The forest starting rustling again, scaring away the animals which inhabited the canopies, as the cars rumbled and carved their way through the labyrinth of trees.

"I think we should follow those red flags hanging on the trees to get out of the forest. It's written in the clue," said Shelley, Nida's best friend and classmate.

"Anyone following us?" Nida asked, driving the car.

Shelley turned around. There were three other cars following them. She could clearly see the drivers; Squall, Xu and Daniel.

"Squall, Instructor Xu and Daniel are hot on our trail," she informed.

"Okay. No use losing them at this point."

Two minutes apart from the leading pack were Kadowaki and Edea, and Zell and Irvine.

"Wanna make an alliance with the boys?" Kadowaki, who was the navigator, suggested.

"Yeah sure. I think we're lost." Edea slowed down the car and waved at Zell and Irvine to stop. Irvine stopped the car beside Edea's.

"Got any problem, ladies?" Irvine asked Edea from his window.

"We're kind of lost so can we team up and find our way out?" Edea asked and winked. Irvine's car lunged forward, while the women followed his car from behind, spotting the route markers together and, in no time, exited the forest and pulled into the highway.

Fujin and Raijin were having difficulties. Their radiator burned out and Raijin, in panic, bumped the car on the bark of a cedar tree. A squirrel fell from the tree and landed on Fujin's face.

"BAH! STUPID ANIMAL!" Fujin tried to fend off the critter, which was scratching her face. After the squirrel shyly scattered away from the car, Fujin showed her anger by slamming the door after she got off the wrecked vehicle.

"RAIJIN, IDIOT! COME OUT!" Fujin screeched. Raijin got out of the car and tumbled on the dirt. Fujin then gave Raijin a kick on the abdomen.

"It's not my fault hon. The car's a goner anywayz," Raijin said complacently. Selphie and Seifer's car arrived at the scene.

"Hey guys, what happened? Ooh, what a crash!" Selphie commented as she saw the duo's car sputtering a trail of white smoke towards the sky.

"You fools, hop in," Seifer ordered, "You don't wanna win a million gil?"

"There are seats for two more," Selphie added, pointing down to the seats she was sitting on.

Fujin and Raijin hopped into their convertible.

Sparrows flew into Jack and King's convertible.

"Jack, did you bring birdseeds with you again?" King reprimanded.

"I'm sorry birdseed give me energy ya know. Crap, I think I touched some bird shit."

"I'm gonna horn to scare the pests away."

"No, you can't! The clue said..." Jack's warning was interrupted by the blaring of the horn, scaring the sparrows away. Jack shook his head in worry.

"What you were about to say?" King said, while turning around to find Jack gaping. King turned back to see a Catchapillar lunging towards the vehicle.

"Haha!" Daniel jeered at Nida and Shelley as they overtook their car on the highway. Leading them were Quistis and Xu. The Trepies were too afraid to overtake Quistis as they revered her as their idol; that is what being a Trepie is all about. After a few minutes they arrived at the seaside town of Balamb. The instructors were the first to arrive at the port, followed by the Trepies, Nida and Shelley, and Squall and Rinoa. The four teams quickly exited the cars and dashed madly to the train station across the street.

After battling with the other teams in a queue fight, Squall and Rinoa were the first team to purchase the first ticket.

"We rock Squall!" Rinoa cheered, jumping up and down. A blast of cool air-conditioning greeted them as they entered the cabin of the first train already waiting for them at the platform.

Nida was the last person in the queue to buy the tickets, but to his dismay the ticket girl shook her head and said 'no more' when he demanded tickets for the first train. Shelley was frustrated as she watched Xu and Quistis and the Trepies entered the train.

"I can't believe it!" Shelley exclaimed while pulling her hair in anger as Nida exited the queue with the second train tickets. "We were in the lead!"

"It happens," Nida said coolly.

"It's you who's being slow!" Shelley yelled at him with her eyes fixed on his line of sight. She mimicked Nida's voice as she continued, "We shouldn't drive faster than 50 miles per hour cos we'll be breaking traffic rules."

Fujin and Raijin sat down at the nearby café with Seifer and Selphie after they have bought their tickets. Seifer, Fujin and Raijin were discussing strategy while Selphie pressed her nose on the glass wall peering at the ocean.

"Next time Raijin, I DRIVE YOU NAVIGATE!" Fujin screeched, banging her fist on the patio.

"Ya know, I think our biggest threat is Squall while we can bamboozle the others like we used to. I hate Squall when he spots our bag of tricks and this time it's payback time!" Seifer sneered.

"Uh uh, no cheating cuz God's watching us," Raijin said dumbly. Seifer gave Raijin a knock on the head.

"Then what God will do, strike lightning bolts at us?" Seifer jeered. Raijin nodded in apology.

"Umm... what about Selphie? Will she try to sabotage our plans?" Raijin said.

"Good question my man." The three started to near at each other, whispering.

"I'll try to divert Selphie's attention from spotting our dirty tricks. But I need your help."

Fujin looked at her watch. "10 MINUTES TO TRAIN'S DEPARTURE." Immediately, the three departed their seats. Seifer tapped on Selphie's shoulder but she was still lost in her admiration of the sea.

"Why is the sea so blue?" Selphie thought. She was then dragged forcefully out of the cafe, her eyes still stuck on the view of the ocean.

The train hissed and screeched as it stopped at the platform at Balamb Station.

Nida and Shelley threw their bags on the floor and sat on the seats of the cabin.

"Funny, I didn't see Jack and King at the station yet," Shelley said in wonder.

"I hope they're not stranded in the forest or the highway. They're kinda fun when it comes to Triple Triad," Nida said. "I'm going to explore the train."

As Nida walked along the corridor, he saw Seifer, Fujin, Raijin and Selphie walking towards him at a distance. As they encountered, Seifer gave an unfriendly bump to Nida. Nida did not grudge and continued walking. Seifer and Selphie entered their cabins first while Fujin and Raijin entered the next one. Selphie jumped wildly as the intercom informed their coming departure.

"I can't wait to look at the undersea the second time!" That gave Seifer a major headache. The ranting about her first SeeD adventure to Timber that Selphie brought into the cabin broke his lazy nap. In fact, Seifer's envy boiled, as he was still an undergraduate unlike Squall, Zell and Selphie.

A minute was left until the train's departure and there was no sign of Jack and King. Just before the train started to move, two people smothered in green slime entered the train in exhaustion. Many of the passengers were surprised and felt disgusted. Nida quickly recognised them as Jack and King through the thick slime.

"Glad that you two made it." Nida sighed of relief. He tried not to slap their slimy palms. "What happened?"

"This guy here likes to disturb bugs," Jack pointed at King. The slime on his finger dripped on the floor.

"Shut up, Jack-ass," King pushed Jack to their cabin soon after, leaving a trail of foul-smelling, slimy footprints.

On the first train, the Trepies were sort of honored and lucky to be on the same train with their idol. They hounded Quistis to death by profusely treating her to lunch. She ignored, hiding her face behind a magazine cover. Squall and Rinoa were watching sea life from the window. Squall and Rinoa were about to be engaged soon and they sometimes joke on love and sex while watching the fishes swimming by.

On the second train, Selphie joined Zell, Irvine, Edea and Kadowaki for a game of charades after being chased away by Seifer for disturbing his sleep. Nida, Jack and King played Triple Triad. As always, King had the better hand and won the most cards. Fujin and Raijin were chatting with Seifer in his cabin.

"I don't get it. How on earth did you pair up with Selphie?" Fujin wondered.

Seifer gritted his teeth. "It's because this Selphie doesn't have a teammate when she really, really wanted to join the race and she knew that I don't have a teammate too. So, she just submits the entry with my name and a fake signature on it. She also tapped into the school database and got all my details."

Fujin paused, imagining Selphie being sneaky and ruthless despite being coy and childish all the time.

"She can turn out as an asset, ya know," Raijin said.

"Raijin, I think you got it right." Seifer snickered. "She might have some use to us after all."


	2. Timber 2

**Timber - 3.20 p.m. (Timber Time), approximately 10 hours after train ride from Balamb**

The first train arrived at the Eastern Timber Station. The crowd waiting along the platform watched as passengers got off the train one at a time.

Quistis and Xu stepped down from the train, spotting a standing black-brown box with yellow stripes gleaming under the sunlight at the exit of the train station. Quistis lunged towards it and pulled out an envelope from the box.

"Search for this person in this picture," the clue read, followed by a picture of a teenager in a hooded, long sleeve shirt standing among a crowd in front of a mosaic arch.

Squall and Rinoa reached the box, followed by the two Trepies.

"Oh I know, I know!" Rinoa said in excitement, as she was familiar with Timber. "This is taken at the Shopping District, the entrance arch!"

"Shh, don't be so loud!" Squall whispered, gripping Rinoa's left wrist.

"Hey Rinoa said we should be heading to the shopping district." Daniel and Rachel started running away from the group.

"Great job, honey," Squall teased.

With the Trepies leading, the pack dashed to the nearby taxi stand.

The underwater scenery soon turned into a dark tunnel, surfacing upon the plains of Timber. From afar, Zell and Irvine could see the view of Timber, a city surrounded by lush savannahs and majestic snow-capped mountains.

Kadowaki, Edea, Nida and Shelley slung their heavy backpacks over their shoulder and waited at the coach exit impatiently, while Seifer, Fujin and Raijin hung out at the lounge with Selphie glued to the window, her eyes locked into the suburban scenery of Timber; a cluster of houses and office buildings lined along the railway.

"Timber is so much advanced now since I first came here," Selphie said thoughtfully.

The train screeched and sparks flew out from the metal wheels as it stopped at the platform of the eastern station.

The teams dashed out of the coach as the double-doors flung open. Jack and King, who had their bodies glazed in slime, led the pack and got to the clue box first.

"Find this person in the picture. OK," King tucked the clue into his belt-pouch and then headed for the taxi circling the nearby square.

"Taxi!" Jack and King hailed a yellow cab and climbed in.

"Take us to this place, please!" Jack requested, waving the photo in front of the driver. The driver nodded.

Nida and Shelley, on the other hand, hailed a passing taxi across the street from the station. They followed Jack and King's taxi.

Edea and Kadowaki, Zell and Irvine, Seifer and Selphie and Fujin and Raijin waited all by themselves at the taxi stand in front of the red brick building of the Eastern Timber Station, watching the passing cars and motorcycles.

"Oh god. It has been ten minutes and not a single cab showed up!" Kadowaki exclaimed.

"Hey where's the taxi?" Zell cried, punching in the air trying to calm himself down. A taxicab then arrived at the stand.

"Hey, wanna play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets the taxi?" Selphie suggested, but Zell, Seifer and Fujin had started a commotion.

"Irvine and I got here first," Zell yelled.

"Quit yapping, chicken-wuss." Seifer raised his voice. "I'm the best here so I'll be taking the taxi."

"ME?" Fujin questioned Seifer.

"Hey cut it out," Kadowaki said, trying to break the fight.

"Rock-paper-scissors!" Selphie insisted. The three people were still arguing.

"Kadowaki, the cab's ours!" Edea hollered as she got in the taxi. Kadowaki then tiptoed to the taxi and squeezed in.

"I feel sorry for them. We should've waited there to break up the fight," Kadowaki said as the driver began to drive away from the stand. The other three teams that were left behind quieted down and watched Edea and Kadowaki leaving them.

"Edea, I thought we're allies!" Zell said to himself.

Edea's head popped out of the window as the taxi stopped momentarily a few feet from them.

"Don't worry, we'll try to arrange cabs for you all," she hollered. The taxi then sped off.

"Can we play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets the next cabbie?" Selphie cheered. Only Irvine and Raijin stretched out their hands.


	3. Timber 3

**Timber Commercial Center - 3.37 p.m. (Timber Time)**

Among the tall skyscrapers of Timber lies one of the oldest monuments in Timber; the Timber Television Station. Not far away from the building was a giant television screen, the station's most prized asset, which showed mostly advertisements and Galbadian propaganda.

At Studio 10, reporters and journalists watched the nine sections dividing a large television screen. The top left section showed Squall and Rinoa bickering in their cab. The bottom screens showed Selphie, Irvine and Raijin playing rock-paper-scissors while Seifer called Zell 'chicken-wuss'. And then on the middle screen showed a scene where Quistis throwing an apple at the Trepies when they wooed her from the car.

"Deceit, tension, humiliation... This is what's all about that makes this program groundbreaking people," Alex Axel said confidently to the reporters and journalists from around the world during the press conference on his new reality series.

"Mr. Kramer," a reporter from E-Esthar began, pointing his pen towards the unhappy looking Balamb Garden headmaster, "As host of this game show, do you think that viewers will dig in into it?"

Cid Kramer rose up from his seat and cleared his throat.

"As far as I'm concerned the trend of television viewing is now about watching people lives and how they react to new challenges, which is also known as reality shows. This show has those elements, except that it provides a larger scope not only about the relationship between team members and within a team, but also showcases the places and cultures that many people might've never seen before. In short, this show is holistic in my honest opinion; both suspensefully engaging and educational at the same time."

Cid then turned to Mr. Axel, smiling.

"I gotta go to the pit stop to meet the last team that will arrive," he whispered to Axel who just nodded. Cid briskly left the studio.


	4. Timber 4

**Timber Shopping District - 3.41 p.m. (Timber Time)**

Quistis and Xu arrived at the bustling streets of Timber's shopping district. Quistis spotted the arch draped in a blue and yellow banner after she got off at a chinaware shop.

"Xu, let's go!" she told Xu who remained in the cab, now arguing with the driver.

"The last time I came here, a ten minute trip only cost 10 gil and now you're charging 20 times the amount of money?" Xu rebuked.

"Drop the money or I'll call the cops," the driver said casually. he then pulled out a gun from the glove compartment and pointed it at Xu.

"You asked for it honey." Xu then kicked the driver's hand and the fake gun dropped uselessly onto the floor. The driver staggered, stroking his hurt right hand and took the 10-gil bill from Xu.

Daniel and Rachel and Squall and Rinoa arrived at the street behind Quistis and Xu's cab.

"Oh my god, the others are here!" Quistis exclaimed as she spotted the two cabs. "We've just wasted a good deal of time Xu."

"Yeah, coming out," Xu said as she got out the car. The three teams blasted through the sidewalks teeming with shoppers and fans heading to Timber Stadium for a concert. The teams then scattered to look for the next clue. Rinoa found the teenager, sitting on a bench. She asked for the clue and the teenager coldly pulled out a red envelope from the pocket of his jeans.

"Squally honey, I've got the clue!" Rinoa shouted at Squall, somewhere stuck in the crowd.

Rinoa ripped the envelope and read, "Book a mystery charter bus ride at Timber Hotel." Rinoa spun around to look for Squall, but she only saw Daniel and Rachel asking the man for the envelope. Rinoa dodged traffic to get to the other side of the street, and all she found was a Xu in confusion.

"Xu, have you seen Squall around?" Rinoa asked frantically.

"Nope. Quistis' gone too," Xu replied. Xu then jaywalked to the other side of the street.

"Where can Squall possibly be?" Rinoa thought anxiously. "Squall! Where are you!" She shouted.

"I think we have a good chance to claim the fast forward pass," Shelley told Nida, looking up at the Timber cityscape from the window. "I don't think the teams that are leading would take it anyway. What do you think?"

"Hmm..." Nida arched forward to see Jack and King's cab stopping before the traffic lights in front of them, "How do you get the pass?"

"It says here we should go to Timber Maniacs and look for it in a pile of magazines," Shelley said, reading the instructions on a green piece of paper that came with their second envelope.

"Then let's go for it." Nida agreed. "Driver, take us to Timber Maniacs please," Nida asked. The driver nodded and turned to the right after passing the traffic lights.

Jack looked from behind the seat to see Nida and Shelley turning the other way.

"Shit, did they spot a shortcut or were they just plain crazy?" Jack exclaimed. "Hey buddy, what do you think?"

"We'll follow them cuz they're smart," King said, arching his body forward and tapped on the driver's shoulder. "Hey cabbie, can you follow that taxi behind us?"

The taxi U-turned and pulled into the road where it caught up with Nida and Shelley.

"Shoot, Jack and King have changed their minds to get the fast forward pass I guess," Nida said as he looked at the front view mirror. "Drive faster! I'll pay extra 15 gil if you could do that," he ordered, waving a 15-gil bill back and forth. The driver pressed the accelerator harder.

"Dammit, they're trying to lose us," King waved a twenty in front of the backview mirror bribing the driver. "Don't lose that cab!"

Squall's black T-shirt and jeans were tugged by the pedestrians as he budged towards the arch. He jerked backwards and bumped onto someone's chest. He turned around to apologize; it was Quistis.

"Are you alright, Squall?" Quistis said, hugging him around his torso.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Squall said, "This street sucks."

"Let's get through this together okay?" Quistis said. The both of them cooperated to break away from the crowd. They found Rinoa and Xu who were looking at the crowd for their presence.

"Squall, I was so worried!" Rinoa said and embraced Squall, kissing him on the cheek. Xu was also relieved to see Quistis again.

Edea and Kadowaki arrived at the shopping district. They were shellshocked when they found the sidewalks to be overcrowded.

"Oh my goodness, what's going on?" Edea asked. "Can you take us directly to that arch?" The car continued towards the mosaic arch. Edea stepped out, leaving Kadowaki in the taxi, and then returned with the clue in hand.

Zell and Irvine, Seifer and Selphie and Fujin and Raijin were reaching the vicinity.

"What the heck! Metalhead is in Timber?" Zell exclaimed as he noticed people with mohawk hairstyles and piercings, wearing Metalhead T-shirts, marching towards the stadium.

A large television screen at the top of Coco Plaza and several billboards around the Shopping District advertized the concert.

It made Zell enthusiastic about the concert.

"Oh so that's why it's so crowded," Irvine said with his face behind his cowboy hat.

"You don't understand, I crave for Metalhead, and their hit 'Freeway Ultrastar' is outta this world!" Zell began to jump up and down on the car seat. "It makes me wanna join the crowd dude."

Irvine revealed his grinning face, then slapped on his forehead.

"Driver, get us to that flag immediately before this dude rock your car to smithereens," he urged.

Zell flung himself to a resting position, grumbling to himself, "I rather lose a million gil than not able to watch Metalhead, live."

"Ooh, Metalhead, that band are made of psychopaths," Selphie squealed. "I hate 'Freeway Ultrastar', it is 'super-duper-mega-suckingly-bad'! Don't you think so?"

Seifer pressed his nose against the window ignoring Selphie's banter. He was so pissed at her when she insulted on his all time favorite song. It seemed unbelievable that Seifer had the same interests as Zell while the both of them despised each other.

"You know there weren't many people like what you see now during the Galbadian occupation. In fact it was totally overrun by soldiers so we had to encounter a lot of them during our first SeeD mission!" Selphie said proudly. "And we surely whipped up a hell lot of them!"

"Just shut up you bitch," Seifer groaned.

"Ugh, Metalhead. They suck ya know," Raijin commented. Fujin kicked him on the ankle.

"THEY DON'T SUCK!" Fujin insisted. "Metalhead is all about self-liberation and the freedom of speaking up your rage and anger! I once wished that I could just drive a monster truck and crush twenty cars in a row on a freeway just like 'Freeway Ultrastar'!"

"Ya don't have to sound that harsh Fujin, honey," Raijin said, rubbing his ankle. "That's not ladylike."

"IMBECILE!" Fujin stepped on Raijin's big toe.


	5. Timber 5

**Outside Timber Maniacs - 3.58 p.m. (Timber Time)**

Nida and Shelley stopped their car in front of the Timber Maniacs building and crawled out after paying. They entered the building just as Jack and King parked behind their taxi.

"What the heck they're doing in there?" Jack wondered. The both of them got out of the taxi, then entered the building finding the couple scrambling through the tied-up piles of old magazines littered throughout the lobby, where the reception desk was.

"Shoot, they're here," Nida whispered while searching the pile.

"Hey, let's look for what they're looking for," Jack suggested and headed to the office with King. They browsed around the office with the staff staring at them while working. King found a tied-up pile of yellowed-out old magazines, sandwiching a piece of paper that resembled their written clue. He yanked the paper out of the pile.

"Hey Jack, I found something!" Jack heard his buddy's voice and approached King, squatting down reading the clue.

"Congratulations, you have claimed the fast forward pass! Now may proceed directly to the pit stop: The summit of the Gazing Mountain."

"What's a fast forward?" Jack wondered.

"Who cares? The goddamn paper told us to go to the pit stop!" King exclaimed. The team then exited the office, finding a perspired Nida and Shelley still rummaging through the pile of old magazines at the lobby.

"Haha! We've got your pass," Jack said in a singsong voice. In anger, Nida punched hardly on the marble floor.


	6. Timber 6

**Timber Hotel - 5.00 p.m. (Timber Time)**

Squall wearily flung himself onto the velvet sofas at the hotel lounge while Rinoa was booking for the mystery ride.

"Hey Squall!" Quistis approached Squall and sat on the box-shaped armchair next to Squall. She folded her hands and crossed her legs in a ladylike pose despite wearing a white sleeveless top and green slacks.

"Whatever," Squall mumbled. "What are you gonna do? Lecture me on how to avoid being eliminated?"

"No, I'm just going to babysit you so that you'll not get into further trouble," Quistis said sarcastically. Squall laughed like a fool, for he did not get her at all. Quistis felt someone touching softly on her shoulder. She turned around; it was Rinoa.

Rinoa waved her finger back and forth at Quistis' aquamarine eyes.

"My seat Quisty."

Quistis stood up from the chair. As she passed by Squall, all tired out, she whispered, "I don't want to lose you in this race."

Rinoa quickly sat beside Squall while Quistis joined the Trepies. They were overjoyed having her acquaintance.

"Squall," Rinoa said to her exhausted boyfriend. Her hair fluttered freely by the blast of cold air. "We'll be leaving tonight at 8 okay?" Rinoa laid her head onto Squall's broad shoulder and closed her eyes. Quistis then turned to see the couples relaxing on the sofa together intimately. Her complexion immediately turned green with envy.

"Instructor, you're green!" Rachel gasped.

"Nothing." Quistis sighed. "Let's talk on."

Irvine had just booked the second bus, which will depart at nine. Zell looked at the clock next to the hotel reception, his temples trembling.

"What the heck, the concert will start any moment!" Zell said, feeling like dashing for the exit, freeing himself from Irvine's supervision. Irvine tugged him by the collar.

"Uh uh, buddy, you're not getting anywhere." Irvine turned to the male receptionist. "I want a single room, please."

"That will be 100 gil sir." Irvine happily paid the money and dragged Zell, holding the backpacks, to the elevator.

After a few minutes, Selphie and Seifer entered the hotel silently. Selphie pondered at the toy train, revolving around the neverending track, while Seifer went to do the booking.

"What do you mean there are no more seats for the 9 o' clock bus?" Seifer complained. "I need to book seats for friends on the same bus."

"Sir, please understand that our buses can only accommodate at most six people," the manager reasoned. He then turned to Selphie touching the toy train and gaped. "Miss, please don't touch that. NOOOOO!"

The train fell off the track after Selphie tipped it over. The train fell to the marble floor and shattered.

"Oops. I didn't mean it, really!" Selphie grinned at the angry manager.

Seifer slapped on his forehead, saying to himself, "She's nothing but trouble."

Seifer pressed 200-gil bills on the counter to pay for the ride as well as for the toy train. He then strode angrily to the elevator, but upon reaching the elevator, a boom gate collapsed in front of him.

"Gatey would be angry at you if you do not pay at the counter," was a recorded message played from the gate.

Seifer peeked at his wallet and realized that he had only a 10-gil note left, which was only enough to buy tuna and mayo sandwiches for Selphie and himself. He felt arms hugging around his torso and turned around to find Selphie's head resting on his back.

"Seifer, I'm really sorry that I broke the train." Selphie looked back with innocent, puppy-like eyes. Seifer shook Selphie off his body.

"You are a jinx, you bitch!" Seifer cursed and stomped his foot firmly on the ground. Irritated, he headed to the lounge, leaving the wide-eyed Selphie at the reception.

Irvine stepped out of the elevator to find Selphie leaning on the wall beside the reception in tears.

"What's wrong honey?" Irvine neared Selphie and patted her shoulder.

"Seifer hates me!" Selphie cried. She wiped off the tears and turned to Irvine. "Where have you been?"

"I had to lock Zell up in the room cuz he's havin' the Metalhead fever," Irvine explained briefly. "Come, I'll treat you to some ice-cream. I know a shop here that sells the best vanilla ice!"

Selphie smiled as they walked to the exit, and at the same time Fujin and Raijin arose from the entrance. Fujin rubbed her shoulder against Irvine's as the both of them run in to each other.

"CRETIN." Walking away, Fujin hissed at Irvine who was singing the ice-cream song to Selphie. "PATHETIC."

"Hmm... ice-cream sounds so good that I want to eat some to relax my aching muscles," Raijin said, stretching his back. Fujin approached the receptionist.

"BUS RIDE. BOOK," Fujin said. A female receptionist signed them up for the 10 o'clock bus ride.

"Oh dear, I'm afraid you've just missed the second ride," she said briefly.

"SCREWED US UP, WHO?" Fujin said matter-of-factly.

"You mean who booked the last seat for the second ride?" The girl scrolled through the name list on the computer screen. "Third team on the 9 o'clock bus is... Selphie Tilmitt and Seifer Almasy."

Fujin stomped on the floor angrily.

"RAGE! SEIFER, WHERE?" The girl pointed to the direction of the lounge. Fujin strode to the lounge with Raijin tagging along.

"SEIFER!" Fujin's voice echoed through the lounge. "YOU SON-OF-A-BITCH!"

"What's wrong?" Seifer rose up from the couch in a sleepy voice. He sensed Fujin's burning anger. "Ut oh, Fujin I can explain..."

"I thought we were allies," Fujin said in tears, now sensing the verge of elimination. Seifer stood up to match height with Fujin and punched her in the stomach. Fujin squirmed and collapsed to the floor, while Raijin was admiring the domed shape ceiling of the lounge, until he spotted Fujin lying on the ground motionlessly in front of Seifer.

"Hey buddy, what did you just do?" Raijin asked.

"Just say that it's for Fujin's own good. Tell her that I'll plan on something to avoid you two from getting last place at the pit stop." Seifer resumed his nap.


	7. Timber 7

**Bluerock Cliffs - 7.20 p.m. (Timber Time)**

After a three-hour journey by bus through the rocky roads of the Timber Mountains, Jack and King finally reached the town of Bluerock Cliffs, a mountain and ski resort nested on the Timber Mountains. Above the town was the summit of the Gazing Mountain.

Jack stepped down from the bus and threw up. King approached to his buddy who had just finished puking, disposing the bag that contained his vomit. Jack and King rode the gondola to the summit for another 10 minutes.

"This place is cool," Jack said with vapor emerging from his mouth, marvelling at the sharp rock formations of the mountains formed by years of erosion. "And darn cold too," he added.

King saw mountain goats grazing on vegetation that dotted the mountains. He clapped in awe, for he loved to watch wildlife. But it was then when Geezards appeared and chased the herd away, he sniffled.

Jack and King stepped down from the gondola and walked around in search of the pit stop. They eventually spotted a blue and yellow route marker stuck on a railing at the summit viewpoint; it was the pit stop, where Cid was standing before a mat that was the map of the whole world.

Jack and King stepped onto the mat together after getting off the taxi without paying.

"Welcome to the Gazing Mountain," a man in thick mountain clothing said. The man, standing beside Cid, presented to them the view of the city of Timber, flashing like a giant light bulb among the surrounding savannah.

"Jack and King," Cid began. "You're team number one."

"Woohoo!" Jack shouted excitedly, hugging his buddy.

"We love this race!" King exclaimed, as they gazed on at the illuminated sight of Timber.


	8. Timber 8

**Timber - 7.55 p.m. (Timber Time)**

The sun had completely hid itself behind the Timber Mountains, leaving the world in darkness. At night, fluorescent lampposts that lined the streets would turn Timber into a light bulb if seen from above.

Squall and Rinoa waited for their bus with the instructors and the Trepies in front of the hotel, while admiring the colourful city lights.

"Timber has been more colourful lately," Rinoa said thoughtfully.

A white bus then pulled over and screeched in front of the pack. The pack lined up as they waited eagerly for the door to open. Squall and Rinoa entered the bus first and chucked their backpacks in the compartments on top of their seats. Quistis and Xu rested easily in their seats. Rachel then argued with Daniel about who was going to sit behind Quistis. In a few moments, the door closed and the bus started moving.

The pack soon learned that the bus was heading for the mountains.

At a restaurant situated on the same street as the Timber Hotel, Selphie joined Irvine, Kadowaki and Edea for dinner. She immediately forgot Seifer's rudeness when she chatted with Edea and Kadowaki, smiling again.

"You know what? Teaming up with Seifer hasn't been bad at all," Selphie commented.

Irvine spat after he heard Selphie.

"Zell will be furious to hear that."

"Anyway, are you going to lock him in a hotel room from now on?" Selphie asked, imagining Zell as a muskrat caged up in a hamster playpen.

"Depends," Irvine said while sipping his pina colada. "Luckily the Metalhead concert is aired on TV so he'll be like sticking his nose on the screen for a long, long time."

"Poor Zell," Kadowaki said sarcastically. Everyone on the table laughed.

Seifer was happy enough to have Fujin and Raijin treating him to dinner at the Timber Burger Palace. Fujin stared sternly at Seifer, who was munching his cheeseburger.

"QUESTION," she started. "How can you guarantee that we'll not be eliminated."

"Don't worry," Seifer mumbled with his mouth full. He washed down the food with Pepsi. "Once I know what the next task will be, I'll plan on something that ensures both of you from getting eliminated. I'll also make sure that Selphie will never screw it up." His tone turned solemn. "She has been a bloody pain in the ass."


	9. Timber 9

**Timber Mountains (approaching Bluerock Cliffs) - 11.26 p.m. (Timber Time)**

Daniel got terrified as total darkness loomed when the bus drove along the mountainous roads of the Timber Mountains. mountain trails. After three hours since the departure, Rinoa yawned, snuggling in her blue sweater as the temperature in the bus got colder. Squall felt blockage in his ears as the bus moved to higher altitude.

"We're almost there!" Rachel said in excitement after passing by a lit-up billboard: 'Welcome to Timber Mountains: Extreme sports 24 hours a day and 365 days a year!'

The bus finally stopped at its destination; Bluerock Cliffs, a ski resort town famous for winter sports operated twenty-four hours a day. Dressed in their winter apparel, the teams got down the bus. To them, Bluerock Cliffs seemed to be this small but restless mountain town populated by skiing daredevils. In the distant, they could watch a couple of mountain-bikers drifting down a snowy slope beneath the chairlifts.

The Trepies spotted a clue yards a few yards in front them bathing in the fluoresent beam of a lamppost by the street.

"Hey, the clue!" Rachel and Daniel ran to the box and opened it.

"Detour," Rachel and Daniel said as they read the contents of the envelope. "Slow Climb Up or Fast Slide Down."

Slow Climb Up: Head to the nearby Bluerock Cliff where you will climb up the cliff to a crevice 20 feet above to get the next clue.

Fast Slide Down: Head to Station 3 at the Timber Mountain Slopes, four miles from Bluerock Cliffs, and ride mountain-bikes to the bottom of the slope to get the next clue."

"Rinoa, ready for climbing?" Squall asked. Rinoa gave a thumb's up. The couple then slung their backpacks and began running towards Bluerock Cliff that was just a short walk away. Quistis and Xu and Rachel and Daniel followed Squall and Rinoa from behind.

Bluerock Cliff resembled a fifty feet stone wall, fifteen feet from the base of the cliff was a crevice, as large as a cave. Handholds and lights were attached to the cliff, making it a spot for wall climbing. However, at night, one might mistake a handhold or a foothold for a piece of loose rock, but that did not deter enthusiastic wall-climbers from taking up such a challenge.

Rachel was the first person to put on her climbing gear. She nervously looked up at the steep, jagged cliff, lit up by strobe lights.

"This is scary." Rachel shook her head as two men put on safety cables on her. "I've climbed cliffs before but this is really scary."

Rachel eased herself, fixed her foot on the rock and climbed up to one feet at a steady pace. Being an experienced rock climber, she got to the crevice. She snapped the safety cable off her and entered the brightened cave to pick up one of the red envelopes lying behind a stalagmite.

"Head to the pit stop - The summit of the Gazing Mountain," she read out loud while looking at the summit of Gazing Mountain in the distance. She got out of the cave and stooped at the base of the cliff to find a Daniel hanging on to a rock for footing.

Squall was already halfway below the crevice.

"Daniel, you can do it!" Rachel waved at Daniel, "Just don't look below!"

"Okay." Daniel said when he was halfway from Rachel. He stepped on a loose rock.

"Daniel!" Rachel wailed as she saw Daniel's left foot hanging in the air.

Zell stealthily embedded one of his earplugs into Irvine's ear while he was napping. The cacophony of musical instruments and vocalists screaming rang loudly in Irvine's ear.

Irvine woke up abruptly and pulled off the earplugs.

"Was that Metalhead, pardner?" Irvine asked, glaring at Zell's walkman. "Your freakazoid band gives me the creeps ya know."

"Who cares?" Zell retaliated, nodding his head to the music. "You could've let me join the concert."

"We don't have the money, Zell," Irvine explained. Zell then plugged a cable to the bus' speakers, blaring 'Freeway Ultrastar'.

"Zell stop it!" Selphie screamed, pressing her ears .

"That's for giving me cold Jambalaya for dinner you S.O.B. cowboy," Zell jeered.

"Hey I kinda like your taste in music boy," the driver said, nodding his head to the song.

"Ugh, stop it!" Irvine pleaded. "I promise I won't lock you up in a hotel again."

Zell turned up the volume. Rajin, Selphie, Irvine, Edea and Kadowaki closed their ears tightly while Fujin, Seifer, Zell and the driver listened intently to 'Freeway Ultrastar'.

"Okay, okay!" Irvine fell to the floor and crawled towards Zell. "Meow! I'll also buy you Deling City hotdogs when we get there!"

"Good kitty." Zell rubbed his fist on Irvine's head and switched off the music. Irvine stood up in embarrassment as the other passengers began to laugh hysterically at his act.

"Well done Irvine. You do look like a kitty," Edea sarcastically joked, giggling.

"Aw... I wanted to listen to Metalhead badly!" Seifer whined.

"Huh?" Selphie turned to Seifer. "What did you just say?"

Seifer closed his mouth with his cuppedhands. He took off his hands and balled his hand into a fist in front of her.

"Stop pondering on my personal agendas you bitch!"

Selphie started crying, however, she wiped off her tears and retaliated.

"I didn't want to team up with you anyway you S.O.B!"

Both of them turned from each other's face and tried to sleep on their seats.

"Hey driver, what's so great about Metalhead anyway?" Irvine asked, wanting to strangle Zell dozing peacefully in his seat.

The driver chuckled.

"The band comes from Timber and they're the city's pride in the music industry. So basically every Timber citizen's proud of them."

"Cool," Seifer thought, closing his eyes for some sleep.

"Don't worry Daniel," Rachel shouted at Daniel with both hands gripping onto a handhold while his left leg swayed. "Just don't look down!"

By then, Squall had reached the crevice while Rinoa put on climbing gear. Quistis was already half-way up. Daniel nodded slightly at Rachel above him. Calmly, he swung his foot to the nearest toehold and resumed climbing.

"Good work Daniel." Rachel gave a high-five to Daniel as he got to the crevice. The Trepies then rode the flying fox back to the base of the cliff, screaming in exhilaration.

"Hey, wake up!" Irvine shook Zell violently.

"Where are we?" Zell woke up groggily. "I had a good dream of Deling City hotdogs."

"We're going to arrive at a town called Bluerock Cliffs in no time," said Irvine, who was all dressed up in his cozy beige cowboy sweater. He handed to Zell his winter clothes.

"Hey I told you not to mess around with my luggage!" Zell snatched his clothes from Irvine.

After the bus parked alongside with two other buses at the town's bus terminal, Selphie, in her bright yellow cardigan, surfaced from the bus; Seifer, Zell, Irvine, Edea and Kadowaki followed. The three teams jostled to the nearby clue box.

"Let's climb!" Selphie cheered. She had climbed and propelled down cliffs back in Trabia.

"No, I'm not doing it!" Seifer said, shaking his head violently.

"Now who's calling chicken-wuss you S.O.B. of an ex-knight," Zell taunted as he walked to the direction of Bluerock Cliff.

"Okay I'll do it!" Seifer gritted his teeth in anger. "I'll even climb up the cliff faster than that chicken-wuss!"

He wished that he could bring along his Gunblade and chop Zell's fists off.

Once Selphie and Seifer arrived at the cliff, Zell was found already in climbing gear.

"See ya suckers!" Zell started climbing.

"I swear I'll reach there in a second and strangle you to death!" Seifer yelled at Zell, pouting back at him. Seifer screeched at the operators to quickly attach the safety cable on him.

"Good luck Seifer!" Selphie shouted at Seifer ten feet above her. As Seifer reached for the next handhold, he stepped on a loose rock. Both feet slipped off. Seifer gripped onto the handhold tightly.

Selphie froze at her position, gaping.

"Seifer!" She then started climbing, hoping to help Seifer.

"Don't worry!" Seifer yelled back. He swung his legs and stepped on a rock. The rock fell off and Seifer remained dangling precariously.

"Seifer!" Selphie climbed up the cliff at a faster pace.

Seifer tried again. He finally stepped onto a foothold his feet and continued climbing. Selphie overtook Seifer and reached the crevice first. There, she pulled Seifer up.

It was Kadowaki and Edea's turn to climb. Zell and Irvine cheered wildly at the old ladies who made it to the top.

"Oh my goodness! I'll never do that again," Kadowaki remarked, panting for breath. She took the clue from behind the rock and tore it open.

"Go to next pit stop, summit of Gazing Mountain." Kadowaki then wrapped her arm around Edea's sweater as they neared the flying fox.

"Here we go again," Matron sarcastically said.

Fujin and Raijin, and Nida and Shelley stepped down from the bus in deep seriousness, staring at each other briefly. They ran to the clue box.

"DETOUR," Fujin said.

"Oh oh, no way I'm going to climb a cliff!" Raijin squealed. Fujin kicked Raijin in the ankle.

The operators were already waiting for the both of them at the Bluerock cliff. Raijin shoveed Nida and Shelley aside rudely to get to the climbing gear first. After wearing the climbing gear, Raijin climbed, followed by Shelley, effortlessly scaling the cliff.

As Raijin was just below from the crevice, he stooped at Fujin who was seen as a dot from above.

"Aaacckk!" Raijin shrieked, losing his grip on the handhold.

"FOOL!" Fujin hissed.

Raijin regained balance and reached to the crevice. He entered the cave gingerly and spotted the stalagmite. He looked behind it, where a knife appeared on top of the last envelope. He picked up both the knife and one of the envelopes and went outside to see Fujin climbing towards him.

Shelley paused, feeling her stamina dissipating rapidly. She almost forgot that it was 3 o'clock in the morning already. Insane!

Fujin overtook Shelley and pulled herself up to the crevice. Raijin showed her the knife he had found.

"KNIFE, BELONGS TO SEIFER!" Fujin said, smiling evilly.

"What are we supposed to do with it?" Raijin asked.

Fujin snatched the knife from him and unsheathed it. The silver glimmer of the knife's blade shone as Fujin swiped it over one of the cables.

"Fujin, you cut the cable!" Raijin exclaimed. Fujin kicked Raijin in the ankle.

"FOOL!" Fujin held onto Raijin's sturdy back as they rode the flying fox.

Shelley finally lifted herself up to the crevice and quickly ran into the cave to get the clue.

"Nida, hurry!" Shelley shouted at Nida, meddling with his footing. Fujin and Raijin had already landed at the base of the cliff as Nida was only at the halfway point. Shelley felt anxious.

"Nida, you can do it!" Shelley decided to motivate Nida. She then noticed Nida's safety cable that was cut apart, realizing that Fujin and Raijin did this to put them out of them out of the race.

"Nida, the cable's been cut!" she warned. Nida heard the muffled voice of Shelley and panicked. Adrenaline was pumped into his veins. Nida wanted to get to the top as fast as possible, and eventually reached the crevice with Shelley pulling him up.

"That was really close!" Nida said, out of breath.

Fujin and Raijin stepped off the 24-hour operated gondola. The summit was dark and quiet, with the mountain breeze blowing coldly past them. Raijin's run turned to a lethargic shuffle as he searched for the pit stop.

"I'm out of breath honey, ya know." Raijin wheezed heavily.

Fujin, also tired, kicked his butt in anger.

After 3 minutes of walking, they arrived at the summit viewpoint where Headmaster Cid was waiting for them.

"Welcome to the Gazing Mountain," the man greeted but it did not calm the duo. They had overworked themselves so much that they wished they would not join the stupid goddamn race for Seifer's sake in the start.

"Fujin and Raijin," Cid began. The duo gazed at Cid anxiously although they knew that they were not going to be kicked out of the race.

"You're team number eight!"

Nida and Shelley quickened their pace as they neared Headmaster Cid. The man greeted both of them as they stepped on the mat.

"Nida and Shelley," Cid began. Nida and Shelley did not show any signs of worry but instead, becalmed. Cid's tone started to turn solemn.

"I'm sorry to tell you that you've been eliminated."

Tears built up in Nida's eyes after hearing Cid announcing their elimination from the race. Shelley allowed Nida's head to rest on her shoulder for comfort.

Nida gazed upon Cid in tears.

"If I weren't a slowpoke we could have..." he stuttered. "Yeah, I guess it's not that good to be overconfident and over-relaxed when it's crunch time." He started laughing with Shelley.

"Nida, you've impressed me just now. I'm so proud of you," Shelley admitted.

_Nida and Shelley were the first team to be eliminated from the Amazing Race!_


	10. Dollet 1

_The eight remaining teams were now put under a mandatory rest period for twelve hours at the camping grounds at the summit of Gazing Mountain. _

**Gazing Mountain, Timber – 7.01 a.m. (Timber Time)**

All teams were happy to have free breakfast laid on the table. They mingled, some complained about the lack of food and sleep, complained that it was so darn cold last night that they wanted to wrap the whole tent to their body.

"After wall-climbing my back starts to ache really badly," Daniel commented sleepily to Jack. Rachel offered some cream to Quistis but she refused.

"Come on. You need some calcium and extra energy," Rachel reasoned.

"Sorry, on a diet," Quistis cut her short and gulped down a glass of milk. "Besides, I hate cream. Bacon and eggs will do."

She then turned from a disappointed Rachel to Squall and stared at him thoughtfully. Squall gave a piece of bacon to Rinoa and she happily chewed it down. The both of them laughed together like a perfectly loving couple.

"Jealous?" Xu tapped on Quistis' shoulder. Quistis turned to see Xu smiling.

"I wished I had a boyfriend too."

Seifer, Fujin and Raijin isolated themselves by sitting at the furthest end of the picnic table.

"Hey guys," Selphie walked towards Seifer who was eating his scrambled eggs. "Why don't you guys join and mingle with us?"

"I would love to, ya know!" Raijin rose up from his seat. Fujin silently kicked his ankle, forcing him to sit back down quietly.

"Leave us alone!" Seifer mumbled with food in his mouth. "We're in the middle of the discussion."

As Selphie left the posses to rejoin Zell and Irvine, Raijin stared at Fujin in this eye.

"Why can't I mix around?" he asked naively.

"FOOL!" She banged the table with her fist. "You'll reveal that we've played a cheat on Nida and Shelley."

"Yeah, and I'll confess the whole thing to Squall and the others until the part where you almost took away Nida's life!" Raijin replied justly.

"Oh, so Fujin cut Nida's safety cable, huh?" Seifer said.

"POSITIVE," Fujin replied. "And thank you for leaving your penknife for our usage."

Seifer's eyes widened and raised his head, staring directly at Fujin's eye patch.

"I don't bring a penknife; they're sissy tools. And I didn't leave a knife in the cave. I was planning to hijack the gondolas but I was stuck in this camping ground since I got here, so I couldn't get out."

Fujin stood from her seat abruptly while Raijin gaped.

"Ya mean you didn't leave us that knife?" Raijin asked.

"Hell no," Seifer said in irritation and resumed eating his breakfast.

"I thought you recognized it as Seifer's, honey," Raijin turned to Fujin with a blank expression.

"ASSUMED," Fujin told Seifer. "YOU PROMISED TO HELP US."

"Sorry!" Seifer said, raising his hands holding the fork and knife in one hand.

"So, who left the knife?" Raijin thought.

"Probably one of the operators or a climber who went into the cave," Seifer suggested. "Who knows anyone could've left it there."

"But it was on top of the last envelope. It looked like a setup, to me," Fujin admitted.

"I'm going to talk to the others," Raijin stood up. Fujin did not force him to stay this time. "Let's take it as a whacko coincidence, ya know" Raijin added, walking to Selphie's group. He yawned loudly since he had only four hours of sleep.

Jack and King surfaced from their red Mylar tent and walked to the checkpoint a few yards away. It was 7.34 a.m. and it was pretty much relieving that they had more than a five hour lead from Squall and Rinoa, the team that arrived second.

The man in mountain gear, who welcomed them alongside Headmaster Cid last night, handed them the red envelope at the pit stop.

"Good luck," he said.

Jack tore the envelope open and whispered to King.

"Choose a marked car at Bluerock Cliffs and drive yourselves to the Vinzer Pier at Lake Obel. You have 300 gil for this leg of the race." 

After counting the money, Jack and King headed for the gondola that would transport them back to Bluerock Cliffs below.

The view from the gondola traversing down the mountain was magnificent; the rocks showed off their bluish complexion under the orangey-golden sunrise behind the mountains. King was elated to see even more animals and monsters this time.

After the ten-minute ride, they found eight sedans lined up along the parking lot next to the bus terminal. They chose the gray one. In the town's backdrop, Bluerock Cliff was clearly resembled a jagged town wall. The cliff was pigmented in light blue and cyan. Opposite Bluerock Cliff was the town's other popular landmark; a crowded ski slope of the Timber Mountains that was seen first after getting of the bus yesterday.

"Lake Obel, here we come!" Jack cheered and entered the back seat. King turned up the engine and the engine hummed. The car moved and left Bluerock Cliffs.

They drove through the scenic mountain passes and then pulled into the flat country roads, adorned with the scenery of Timber's evergreen meadows and farmlands. Jack and King removed their sweaters and windbreakers as Timber got warmer and warmer.

At noon, tourists poured into Gazing Mountain, viewing Timber and the surround savannahs from the summit.

At 12.53 p.m., Squall and Rinoa, Quistis and Xu, and Daniel and Rachel departed at the same time, since they decided to check in at the pit-stop together last time.

"Lake Obel!" Rinoa cheered. She held Squall's muscular arm as the both of them jostled along the road toward the gondola station. Quistis envied them. She wanted Squall for herself too.

"Are we going to ride the same gondola?" Rachel asked, following Quistis and Xu.

"Yeah," Quistis replied, following Squall and Rinoa as intently as the Trepies following their idol.

The three teams arrived at the station; it was packed. They had to get through the droves of incoming tourists to get to the departing gondolas.

"Phew, can't wait to get to the lake," Rachel said.

Each team sat on each of the two-seaters on three sides of the gondola's interior. Rinoa turned around and pressed her nose against the window behind her, gazing upon the rugged mountain scenery. A sudden vibration of the gondola surprised the passengers. The gondola paused for a few seconds before resuming its journey.

"What was that?" Xu wondered, her hand laid on her chest.


	11. Dollet 2

**Lake Obel – 12.53 p.m. (Timber Time)**

The blue, reflective complexion of Lake Obel, the largest lake in Galbadia, surfaced from beneath the meadows as Jack and King drove along the highway. They eventually arrived at Lakeside Meadows, a small town located by the shore of Lake Obel and also where the late Galbadian President Vinzer Deling had his summer vacation home.

"Hey, there's a flag," Jack spotted the blue and yellow flag perched on a streetlight with an arrow above it pointing them to the left junction. King turned left and arrived at the pier, marked by another flag. Eight longboats were docked along the half mile long wooden pier. A Chocobo stable was located opposite the shore. The lake was crystal clear. In the distance, Timber and the mountains seemed miniature. Across the Obel shoreline was a lonely island thrived with lush vegetation known as Shadow Isle. A two-mile stone bridge was built to connect the shore with the isle; named after Sanpiper, supposedly the first person to venture the accursed Shadow Isle during the feudal age.

King parked the car parallel to the shore of the lake, where the pier and Shadow Isle were visible. Jack and King, in their black CC Club T-shirts, stepped down from the car and headed to the clue box at the end of the pier. They felt the pier shaking to the heavy thuds of their running.

"Detour," Jack exclaimed, reading the next clue.

Paddle: Row longboats to Shadow Isle two miles from the pier.

Saddle: Ride Chocobos in a distance of four miles to the Sanpiper's Bridge and cross it by foot to get to Shadow Isle.

The clue box will be located at the end of Sanpiper's Bridge on Shadow Isle.

"Oh I wanted to ride Chocobos. But let's take the boats. It's faster," Jack said turning to the longboats below the pier. After putting on safety vests, King stepped down to the boat followed by Jack. Jack released the knot that kept the boat docked by the pier. The boat began to drift away from the pier and the two started paddling to the island.

A twelve-year-old boy, handling the Chocobos at the stables, got up and ran to the pier, shouting at Jack and King on the boat.

The boy, brought up in Lake Obel, knew that man-eating fish called piranhas dwelled the waters surrounding Shadow Isle (a reason why it was deemed accursed). It was the piranas' mating season and the carnivorous fish would be at their most vicious and ruthless behavior.

"Don't swim in the water 'cause the piranhas would get you!" the boy warned.


	12. Dollet 3

**Bluerock Cliffs – 2.10 p.m. (Timber Time)**

Seifer and Selphie were by themselves in the gondola. Selphie sat on the seat opposite Seifer's, and although they were face to face between each other, both of them just turned to the window beside them staring at the view.

Seifer jolted forward as the gondola screeched to a halt.

"Oh my god, what's going on?" Selphie panicked, looking at all directions. From the window she saw the other gondolas had stopped moving 300 feet above the valley. The station on the summit behind them was completely shrouded by mist.

A male voice started to sound from the intercom.

"There's been a technical error in the cable car system. We had to stop all gondola but it won't be long. Do not panic. We guarantee that you will not fall and crash into the mountains and die. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your consideration."

"What the hell," Zell cursed as the intercom informed about the temporary halt of the gondolas. He was waiting for one at the summit station along with Irvine, Edea and Kadowaki. The gondolas that had just arrived at the platform were now stationary. The platform guard attempted to calm the complaining crowd down.

"Hope it doesn't take long…" Kadowaki sighed.

"Hmm... I wonder if Selphie made her move if she and Seifer were trapped in the gondola," Irvine wondered, having graphical thoughts of Seifer taking advantage of Selphie, if they were alone in the gondola.

The gondola had stopped for ten minutes now. Seifer was frustrated, looking down at the menacing jutting rocks of the bare, rocky mountain slope, from the gondola's window. Seifer and Selphie felt the gondola swayed slightly to the wind. Feeling nauseous, Seifer fell back to his seat, while Selphie held onto a steel pillar next to the door.

"Seifer," Selphie said, left the pillar and leaned her body towards Seifer, his head sunk beneath his arms. Selphie then tried to sound flirtatious.

"This is the best time we should explore each other!"

Seifer looked up at Selphie, grinning from ear to ear. He gaped.

"What are you trying to do?"

There was nobody else but Selphie and him. The girl that Seifer thought to be childish, naïve and a virgin especially, stroked gently across his chest.

At 3.15 in the evening, Fujin and Raijin were the last team to receive their clue. They took their final chance to gaze at the beauty of Timber from the summit viewpoint.

"RUN," Fujin ordered Raijin to dash to the walk path ahead of them. Tourists began to leave the viewpoints, heading the same direction as Fujin and Raijin; to the gondola station. At the station, it was packed, the crowd in whispering complaints as they waited impatiently to get to the departure platform. Fujin and Raijin spotted Zell, denoted by his face tattoo, buying popcorn from a vendor near the entrance.

"Hey guys," Raijin greeted. Fujin jabbed him, telling him indirectly not to be too friendly with Zell. "Why are you guys waiting here?" Raijin assumed that Irvine, and hopefully Seifer and Selphie, were also around.

"The freakin' gondola just got shut down. Irvine, Matron, Dr. Kadowaki and I waited for more than an hour now," Zell explained. He still called Edea 'Matron', besides Squall, Quistis and Selphie.

"SEIFER, WHERE?" Fujin asked.

"Let's just assume two possibilities, either that Seifer is on his way to Lake Obel or stuck in the gondola, with Selphie," Irvine said, emerging from the crowd for his snack. He turned his attention to Fujin, stroking her silver hair, and Raijin, that red-skinned, muscular, but dim-witted companion of hers. "Wanna take a bet?"

Raijin raised his hand.

"Ugh, help me!"

Seifer laughed, lying on the steel floor as Selphie tickled his chest, trying to pull off his black T-shirt with a skull in the middle. She pulled up the T-shirt until Seifer's six-pack and chest was revealed. She then continued to unbuckle Seifer's belt. Seifer reacted by kicking Selphie lightly in torso. Selphie tumbled to the floor away from Seifer. Seifer got up, adjusting his belt and pulled back his shirt down.

"What are you trying to do to me, you bitch?" Seifer barked at her while putting on his sweater that was strewn on the floor. He then approached Selphie kneeling on the floor, sniffling. At that moment, Seifer and Selphie neared each other, eventually kissed each other, mouth to mouth. After a few seconds, Seifer departed from her lips and whispered, "Are you heterosexual, bitch?"

Selphie shook her head shyly. "Hey let's do that again!" she beamed shamelessly.

Seifer and Selphie felt the gondola motioned. Selphie got up and wore back her yellow cardigan.

"I enjoyed that Seifer," Selphie said to Seifer. "I didn't know you're a lioness tamer."

"Well, let's just say I've got…" Seifer faltered. The gondola finally moved.


	13. Dollet 4

**Lake Obel – 4.45 p.m. (Timber Time)**

Squall and Rinoa were paddling towards Shadow Isle.

"Squall," Rinoa stopped paddling and said, folding her hands in her lap, "Isn't this the time to like... do something romantic?"

Squall stopped and glared at Rinoa.

"Honey, this is a race and after this leg we can have a private time together okay?"

"Aw but can we have it once in the middle of the race, especially since Lake Obel looked so pretty now?" 

The two lovers approached began kissing each other. Quistis, struggling with the oar, glanced at the reflection of the couple smooching passionately on the crystal clear water of the lake. Xu noticed Quistis' change of behavior.

"Quistis, I think we'll turn around so that we can synchronize our paddling better," she said firmly.

Rachel and Daniel rode the Chocobos along the beach towards Sanpiper's Bridge. Rachel's Chocobo hesitated as its feet splashed on the water that rose up the beach.

"Kweh!" the chocobo wailed, danced around in panic. Rachel fell off from the saddle and thudded on the sand. Daniel laughed as Rachel stood back up with wet sand sticking on the back of her light blue shirt. She wiped off the sand and approached the Chocobo.

"What's wrong, lil' fella?" she talked to the medium-sized Chocobo stroking its cheek, although the Chocobo had shook her off.

"Kweh kweh!" The chocobo started again and pointed to the water with its beak.

Rachel then walked towards the rising tide and looked at her imperfect reflection on the water. The reflection rippled. A silver-colored fish jumped out of the water trying to bite Rachel's nose off with its razor-sharp teeth. Rachel dodged the attack of the vicious fish and ran back to Daniel.

"Daniel, the Chocobos are scared of the piranas," Rachel recognized the fish from her knowledge of aquatic and marine life. "We'd better walk to the island from this point onwards," she added. The bridge was just a few yards ahead of them.

Daniel dismounted from the Chocobo. The Chocobos themselves could return to the stables themselves, if they wanted to. The both of them climbed up the stairs, barely immersed in the tide, to get on the bridge. Sanpiper's Bridge was two feet above water, supported by stalwart stone pillars. It was amazing that the people of Lake Obel developed a trick to avoid the piranhas, but it would not work during mating season right now. The both of them ran along the bridge, crossing the lake, trying not to touch the railing in case the piranas might jump from the water and bite off the flesh of their fingers.

Squall and Rinoa got off the boat after docking onshore of Shadow Isle. They headed to the clue box located at the end of the bridge a few yards away from where they docked. Rinoa got to the clue box first, opened it and took out an envelope.

"Let's see where we're going next." Rinoa ripped the envelope open and a route-info popped out. "Take a train to Dollet and find the Nautilus Fountain."

"Dollet, huh," Squall said to himself.

"Let's go!" Rinoa tugged Squall by the hand, running along the bridge to get back to the mainland. They eventually ran in with the Trepies.

"Don't touch the railings cuz there are piranas in the water!" Rachel warned.

"Okay," Rinoa replied, running past Rachel and Daniel.

Rachel and Daniel then arrived at the end of Sanpiper's bridge and took the envelope from the box.

"DOLLET!" Rachel and Daniel both exclaimed in joy. At the same time, Quistis and Xu, tired from paddling, approached the clue box sluggishly and opened it to find a pile of red envelopes inside.

"Oh, we're going to Dollet next," Quistis said, viewing the miniature cityscape of Timber from afar.

Instead of rambling like she used to during the train journey to Timber yesterday, Selphie brooded on the back seat, her knees pressing her thighs and her head resting on her palms. Seifer noticed the strange silence in Selphie.

"Selphie, are you all right?" Seifer asked from the driver seat. Selphie turned to Seifer's reflection on the back view mirror.

"I didn't know Seifer would ask such a question," she said frankly. It hit Seifer.

"I didn't mean to say that you bitch, 'cause I'll never change, like that son of a bitch Squall!" Seifer pressed the accelerator harder and the car sped up, paving away the leaves lying on the road.

After thirty minutes, Seifer parked the car next to the beach, the same spot where teams parked their sedans upon arriving at Lakeside Meadows. After reading the clue, both of them started riding the Chocobos.

Fifteen minutes later, three more cars arrived at the pier; Zell and Irvine, Edea and Kadowaki, and Fujin and Raijin. Zell and Irvine and Fujin and Raijin paddled the longboats while Edea and Kadowaki rode the Chocobos.

"FOOL!" Fujin hissed at Raijin. "Don't you know how to row?"

Raijin then turned his body around and faced Fujin's back. Finally, they made their boat to move away from Zell and Irvine, whose boat was stationary on the water a few yards from the pier. Zell and Irvine followed Fujin and Raijin's rowing technique and started to move directly towards the island.

"Yay, we're going to Dollet!" Fujin could hear Selphie's loud and cheery voice as she approached Sanpiper's bridge.

"HURRY UP!" Fujin ordered. Raijin obeyed and quickened his strokes.

Water started to seep in the boat below Raijin's seat.

"Oh I think I peed," Raijin whined.

"FOOL! WATER ENTERING BOAT! ROW FAST BEFORE SINKING!" Fujin screeched.

The both of them quickened their strokes, but it worsened their plight as the boat rotated due to unsynchronized paddling. Just before they could reach the shore, the boat sank.

"RAGE!" Fujin screeched as she looked at Seifer walking on the bridge back to the mainland with Selphie behind him, not noticing Fujin and Raijin had had their heads above water. As Raijin started swimming to shore, he felt a tickling sensation on his finger. He held up his hand and eyed at the baby pirana biting his thumb playfully.

"PIRANAS!" Fujin and Raijin swam as fast as possible to the nearby shore of Shadow Isle. Fujin then crawled away from the water up to the beach while Raijin lay on the sand on his back. The both of them stood up, wiped of the sand from their wet clothes, panting, out of breath.

"CLOSE!" Fujin wiped off the moisture on her face and wrung the bottom of her drenched pink sleeveless blouse.

"Ow I think I got my butt bitten," Raijin said as he rubbed off the itchiness on his buttocks. They shuffled to the box with seawater dripping on to the sand.

"NAUTILUS FOUNTAIN. TRAIN FROM TIMBER TO DOLLET," Fujin said. Zell and Irvine were seen docking by the shore. Fujin clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. "SEIFER!"


	14. Dollet 5

**Dollet – 3.00 p.m. (Dollet Time)**

_Dollet's time zone is half an hour ahead of Timber's. The journey from Timber to Dollet by train is about four hours._

Jack and King got off the train after it halted at Dollet's main station. They stepped out of the station and entered the cobblestone sidewalks and old-world buildings of Dollet, a charming seaside town with an ancient and nostalgic charm to Erected atop the Dollet Plateau was Dollet's main communication tower, Dollet's unmistakable landmark, founded during the era of the Sorceress War.

Jack and King admired at the goldenness of the ancient alleys, buildings and statues as they rode a taxi heading to the city center, where the magnificent Nautilus Fountain was located. The Nautilus was sculpted by Stiletto, one of the greatest architects of the thousand-year old Dukedom of Dollet. Once there, the both of them admired the beauty of the statue; the daughter of the sea god, Nautilus, with her arms wrapped around a pitcher stolen from her father, containing the magic of creating life, pouring it into the shallow well below.

King opened the clue box in front of the fountain and took out the envelope. He then ripped it open and read it to Jack.

"Your next destination is where the 'Lost King' is pointing at."

Jack then asked the people around the square about the 'Lost King'.

"I think it's a statue at the Dollet Museum," a food stall peddler said.

The team called for a taxi and headed right away to the museum.

Upon arrival, Jack and King entered the museum to look for the statue. Then they found a figure that resembled an aging king with a scepter in one hand. The statue, however, was not pointing at anything.

"Why aren't you pointing?" King scolded at the statue, whose eyes looked at him sternly. This caught the attention of a female curator.

"Sir, can you please pay some respect to our 'father'?" she said approaching the team.

"I'm sorry but maybe you can help us?" Jack said showing the route-info to the curator, who then giggled after reading it.

"The 'lost king' is another name of the big satellite dish at the communication tower," she explained briefly. "And if I'm not mistaken, you can clearly see Belle Lighthouse on Rhondia Island if you look from the top of the satellite."

"Thanks," Jack said and ran to the exit.

"No running!" the curator shouted.

Squall looked thoughtfully from his window at the sky, turning from bright blue to golden as the hours go by. He then felt someone tugging his sleeve and turned to see Rinoa smiling, sitting opposite him on the dinner table.

"What are you thinking of, honey?" she asked meekly.

"Whatever," he said in his breath and continued staring at the sky. Quistis set her eyes on Squall who was just sitting at the table opposite her, waving her fork back and forth above her plate of spaghetti.

"Quistis, are you alright?" Xu tapped on Quistis' shoulder. "Snap out of it."

"Sorry Xu. Got distracted," Quistis turned to Xu and said. "What'd you do if your ideal boyfriend has had already someone beside him?"

"I'd say, forget him," Xu munched on her salad. "But if you're serious, then when the perfect opportunity strikes, yank it in and tie it up."

"The perfect opportunity huh?" Quistis thought deeply. Her thoughts burst suddenly when the Trepies surprised her from behind. She turned around to see Daniel and Rachel and glared at them. "You almost choked me. Have you no manners?" she chided.

"Sorry Instructor Trepe," Rachel apologized. "We thought of asking you to come to our table. We have the most beautiful view of Dollet!"

"Yeah, and there are lots of castles," Daniel added.

"Sure, we'll go to your table." Xu rose from her seat but Rachel shook her head, pressing Xu's shoulder.

"Sorry, Instructor Xu. We're only inviting Instructor Trepe."

"And sorry I'm not in the mood. Anyway I've been to Dollet and seen most of the sites," Quistis answered coldly, causing the Trepies to nod in disappointment.

"Then shall I replace her?" Xu asked. The Trepies nodded gladly and the three left Quistis alone with that fondest fantasy in her mind.

Xu turned to the window beside her after she took a seat on the Trepies' table. The view of the sunset giving the cluster of ruins and ancient castles around the lush Dolletian greenery twinkled in her eyes.

Fujin slid the doors open and found Seifer lying on the sofa in his cabin. She glared at Seifer, causing Seifer to awaken abruptly from his nap.

"RAGE!" Fujin could not contain her anger as she lunged for Seifer's neck.

"Fujin, what the heck happened to you?" Seifer said, shielding his neck as Fujin wanted to strangle him.

"I thought we were allies." Fujin balled her fist and her eyes started to water. "We almost got eaten alive by mating piranas when our ship got sunk in Lake Obel, and you did not come to help us!"

"Sorry, I didn't see 'cause Selphie and I wanted to leave the place after we got the clue," Seifer tried to explain but Fujin resented.

"SELPHIE, SELPHIE, SELPHIE!" Fujin screeched. "Just what'd she done do you when you two were trapped in that gondola ride?"

"Trapped?" Seifer tried to sound confused. "Oh yeah, the gondola system got jammed when we were going down. It had been scary hanging above those sharp rocks below."

"TRUE? MEAN IT?" Fujin returned to her booming voice. Seifer nodded and returned to his resting position. Fujin exited the cabin and ran into Selphie, who had just finished chatting with Zell, Irvine, Kadowaki and Edea. Fujin and Selphie exchanged looks first. Fujin then left the cabin in frustration while Selphie happily entered the cabin.

"Seifer, wanna continue where we'd stop at the gondola?" Selphie said cheerfully. Seifer answered a matter-of-fact yes.

Selphie silently locked the door behind her and strutted towards the sofa, unbuttoning her yellow blouse.

Rachel and Daniel got to the next clue first upon reaching the Nautilus Fountain. A taxi then appeared from behind the Trepies. Squall and Rinoa stepped out of the cab.

"...where the 'Lost King' is pointing at." Rachel began to ask the crowd present at the square. "Does anyone know where the 'Lost King' is?"

"It's the satellite dish at the communications tower," a woman dressed in fur answered in her Dolletian slang.

"Thanks!" Rachel signaled Daniel to return to their taxis. They climbed in. "Dollet Communications Tower sir!"

"The 'Lost King'!" Quistis turned to the giant satellite dish on the communications tower, perched at the edge of the Dollet Plateau. Quistis and Xu returned to their taxi and followed Squall and Rinoa from behind.

The taxi stopped in front of the steps leading to the Dollet Plateau. Rachel, with a map in her hand, climbed the steps arduously with Daniel behind her until the full view of the communication tower surfaced. The Trepies gazed at the 'Lost King' higher above the tower in awe.

"Let's go inside quickly," Daniel said. Rachel and Daniel entered the tower through the automatic gates and found engineers examining the circuit boards. They both rode the elevator up to the rooftop, where the 'Lost King' was located, perched on top of a steel turret. Rachel then climbed the ladder leading to the dish at the apex of the turret. Her ponytail and T-shirt billowed to the light breeze as she was halfway up.

"Rachel, what do you see?" Daniel shouted at Rachel reaching the 'Lost King' roughly fifty feet above him.

Rachel aligned her sight with the direction pointed by the antenna on the dish, her hand shielding her eyes from the rays of the setting sun sinking into the ocean from afar.

"I see a lighthouse! And there's a blue and yellow flag sticking out of the balcony!" Rachel climbed back down and spread out the map of Dollet. She moved her finger to the Dolletian shoreline and then to an island offshore. "Belle Lighthouse on Rhondia Island. Let's go!"

The Trepies rode the elevator back to the ground floor and met Rinoa and Squall. They said nothing to them. Upon reaching the main entrance, they bumped into Quistis and Xu. 

"Instructor Trepe, we know where the next route marker is. Follow us!" Rachel and Daniel chirped excitedly.

Squall and Rinoa stared at the towering steel turret, the throne of the 'Lost King'.

"Squall, be careful," Rinoa said to Squall who began gripping the first two rungs of the steel ladder. Rinoa bit her nails as the ladder trembled due to Squall's weight. After five minutes that seemed like an eternity to Rinoa, she sighed in relief as Squall was seen climbing back down the ladder.

"Squall I'm so glad!" Rinoa hugged Squall. "What did you see up there?"

"A lighthouse," he muttered. Squall and Rinoa ran all the way back to the taxi, waiting for them below the plateau.

"To the lighthouse!" Rinoa ordered as she got into the taxi.

"Which lighthouse? There are six of them in Dollet," the driver said.

"Oh crap." Squall pulled himself out of the taxi, leaving Rinoa behind.

"Squall, where are you going? Are you going back to the tower? You can't!" Rinoa shouted at Squall, climbing up the stone stairs back to the top of the plateau. Rinoa waited impatiently for about twenty minutes until Squall was seen again running down the steps. She frowned as Squall sat next to her.

"It's a lighthouse on an island," Squall told driver. The driver nodded and started the engine.

"Squall please don't try it again. You could be squashed like a bug if the ladder falls down on you," Rinoa muttered, turning away from Squall, placing his head on the headrest. "And make sure that when you do things do it PROPERLY cuz we have long a good deal of time!" she turned back to her over-relaxed Squall and screamed.

"Oh shut up," Squall mumbled.

Quistis and Xu, and Daniel and Rachel stepped off the boat, docking on a beach near Belle Lighthouse at Rhondia Island.

"Thanks," Xu said as the oarsman helped her to get off the boat. They then dashed to the gates of the lighthouse.

"Operation hours 8.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m.," Rachel read the sign on the gate. She turned to look at her watch. "We're late by 4 hours!"

Daniel walked away from the gate and spotted two recognizable figures behind the bushes.

"Hey, look who I've found guys," he hollered in a high-pitched voice. "It's the jackass and Lord Farquaad!"

After hearing the boisterous laughter from the familiar voices in the distance, Jack shoved away the T-shirt that blanketed his face grumpily and got up from his nap.

"I'm not a jackass! You disturbed our sleep!" Jack, half-naked, scolded the two teams who were seen walking towards him.

King squirmed and then woke up to find the Trepies squatting beside their bonfire.

"How long have you guys been here?" Quistis asked. The three teams then huddled around the fire. Jack put on his T-shirt.

"We reached here at about 3.30. We didn't bother to return to the city cuz we've bought food with us anyway. It's breezy and comfortable here and there are no monsters or wild animals and all," King explained. Jack then pulled out two extra-large bags of potato chips from his backpack beside him.

"Chips anyone?"

Squall and Rinoa realized that the lighthouse was closed when they arrived at the gates. The couple eventually found Quistis, Xu, Daniel, Rachel, Jack and King huddling around a bonfire by the beach, playing some sort of game in which a player would have to tell a made-up story of another person.

"My name is Quistis Trepe and during my childhood years I lived with Matron or Edea Kramer in an orphanage with Squall, Seifer, Selphie and Irvine. There I studied magic from Matron. Then in my teenage years I moved to Garden and serviced as a kick-ass instructor! I have a crush on Squall Leonheart since childhood but Squall didn't notice me because... ah! I have small tits!" King mimicked Quistis' voice, adding fuel to the laughter among the teams.

"Hey guys!" Rinoa said, waving at the group.

"Squall, Rinoa, you're here!" Daniel said stretching his arms to shake Rinoa's hand.

"We're playing 'Tell about Yourself' and we're going to spend the night here," Jack said. "Oh yeah we left some chips for you just in case if you found us."

"No thanks, we've brought our food anyway," Rinoa said sitting on an empty space between Xu and Daniel. Squall then sat between Rinoa and Xu. He glanced at Quistis, staring at the dancing flames of the bonfire, sitting on the sand beside Xu with her arms hugging her folded legs.

Night fell as the sun finally sunk into the ocean.

"I'm Squall and I'm gay. My gay lover is Seifer who not only sits with me in the cafeteria and feed each other for every meal but we also sleep together, stripping off each other's clothes. Don't forget that..." Rachel cocked her lips together to imitate a kiss. "Mm… smooch, smooch."

Everyone laughed at Rachel's silly joke, except Squall who remained silent. A strong breeze blew past the bonfire, distinguishing the fire.

"Oh dear, the fire's out. Who wants to volunteer to get more firewood?" Jack said, but nobody raised his or her hand. Rinoa and Xu looked at Jack and King, sitting side by side closely, while Rachel and Daniel exchanged blank glances. Squall eventually got up from his seat and walked towards Jack.

"I'll get them," Squall said and then walked to the cluster of backpacks inside the tent to retrieve his torchlight.

"Squall I'll help!" Quistis got up and followed Squall.

The two then disappeared in the befalling darkness, searching for firewood.


	15. Dollet 6

**Dollet – 8.30 p.m. (Dollet Time)**

The last train from Timber arrived at the Dollet train station. Fujin and Raijin stepped down the train and immediately ran to the taxi parked outside the archway exit. They climbed into the taxi. Fujin turned on the lights and took out the fast forward clue written on green paper.

"Where do you want to go, miss?" the driver asked courteously.

"GIUSEPPE III FOREST RESERVE," Fujin ordered.

"Uh are you sure about getting the fast forward pass?" Raijin asked. "I'm certain that we could go through without the fast forward cuz we're fit and smart and all, ya know."

Fujin jabbed Raijin on the side causing him to squirm.

"GO!"

The driver immediately released the handbrake and pressed the accelerator.

The highway, brightened by the guidance of streetlights soon turned into a dark and eerie forest trail. There was hardly any light but the glow of the full moon, illuminating Dollet's night sky.

"Are there werewolves around here?" Raijin muttered in panic as a howl echoed through the forest.

The taxi then pulled towards a steel gate, the headlights flashed on a signboard on the gate; Giuseppe III Forest Reserve, 7.30 a.m. – 7.30 p.m.

"You guys better go to that lodge to spend the night. It's shabby but at least it can protect you from wolves and other animals and monsters and there are rangers around to talk to," the driver said after receiving his pay of 80 gil.

"See, there are werewolves! I told ya it's not a safe place!" Raijin squeaked. Fujin then tugged Raijin painfully by the ear to the shabby cabin across the gate.

Selphie and Seifer arrived at the communications tower, closed for the night.

"Wanna camp here for the night?" Selphie suggested. Seifer nodded immediately. After collecting firewood, Selphie and Seifer retreated to a dilapidated but cozy shed where they built their campfire. Selphie and Seifer huddled together by the warmth of the flame. Selphie laid her head on Seifer's chest in deep slumber while Seifer stayed awake, protecting Selphie from incoming attacks from monsters and wild animals.

Zell, Irvine, Edea and Kadowaki were chased away by the police from sleeping on the benches around the town square. They were forced to stay at a nearby motel, combining their money to pay for a room with two beds and a shower where they stayed together. Edea and Kadowaki dozed soundly on the beds after a brief hot shower while Zell and Irvine slept on the floor, snuggling in their sleeping bags.

Squall and Quistis both ventured deeper into the bushes to look for more firewood. Squall felt a warm touch on his buttocks, dropping all the firewood that he had collected in his arms. Behind him, he flashed his torchlight on a hand that moved up to his back.

"What are you doing?" Squall rebuked.

"Oh sorry, I think I completely lost it." Quistis withdrew her hand. She looked at Squall with her torchlight flashing on Squall's face. Squall shielded his eyes from the blinding rays. "Is there anything wrong about Rinoa today?" Quistis asked.

"Why did you ask that?" Squall turned away from the blinding flash and circled her in small steps. Quistis spun to face Squall whenever he talked. "Did you saw me kissing Rinoa at the lake this afternoon?"

"Of course, even the townspeople and Daniel and Rachel did. I don't mean to violate your privacy but, does your feelings toward Rinoa are ever sincere? And does she even care about you when you're in trouble in the streets of Timber?" Quistis reasoned. Squall then turned away from Quistis.

"Whatever!" he said out loud. "Rinoa and I," Squall began slowly, "had a fight since we arrived at Dollet."

Squall then turned to Quistis, dropped his torchlight and kissed Quistis on the lips under the moonlight. Quistis felt pleasurable as she pressed her lips against Squall's and stroked his back.

"Oh my goodness!" an unknown voice sounded. Quistis and Squall immediately departed from their lips and jerked away from each other. The beam from Rinoa's torchlight shone at the confused looking couple.

"Oh, sorry for the distraction." Rinoa tried to sound apologetic. "But we're getting worried and, Squall honey, did you get the firewood?"

"One more," Squall said while picking up the firewood he had dropped on the ground.

Squall, Quistis and Rinoa approached the campsite with their torchlight on, carrying equal quantities of firewood in their arms.

"What took you guys so long?" Jack asked and began to sound flirtatious. "Something romantic was going on? It's a full moon out there ya know."

"Nothing, and shut up!" the three chanted in unison.


	16. Dollet 7

**Dollet – 6.30 a.m. (Dollet Time)**

Seifer felt someone touching his shoulder.

"Who's that?" Seifer slowly opened his eyes and saw Selphie resting peacefully by his side and in front of him stood an old man in grey uniform leaning at him in front of the charred firewood.

"Good morning, sir," the old man, turning out to be a technician, started with an affable smile. "Had a nice nap?"

"What's your problem," Seifer said nastily, rubbing his eyes to keep them awake.

"Sorry to disturb, but it's already morning. And if you're one of those racers you can come inside the tower to have some coffee, if you want to."

"Thank you sir," Seifer muttered. He felt a slight movement beside him.

"Mm? Is it morning already?" Selphie arose from her sleep, stretching her arms.

"By the way, you two looked like the most intimate couple I've ever seen in my whole life," the old technician said sarcastically, turning back to see Seifer squinting his eyes in an unfriendly manner.

Seifer and Selphie shuddered as a cold morning breeze billowed past them, while looking up at the apex of the turret to find an antenna protruding from the mist that shrouded the 'Lost King'.

"I'll climb." Selphie climbed up a rung, her gray cardigan and her hair fluttered freely in the wind. She got to the top and stood on the raised steel platform in front of the satellite dish. "Wow, this is truly breathtaking!" Selphie cheered as she gazed at the sunrise, coloring the whole town in gold. She saw the sea in full view when she looked at the same direction the 'Lost King' was facing. Across the sea, off the Dollet coast, she could easily spot their next destination. "It's a lighthouse!"

Fujin woke up in an unusual morning ache, and when she found Raijin's hand resting on her abdomen, she gaped. She shoved the hand away angrily and glared at Raijin beside her, sleeping soundly with his back showing. There was only one queen-size bed in the cabin, but Raijin should have been sleeping on the floor. Raijin might have climbed up to the bed while Fujin was asleep, since he complained that the cracked wooden floor was so uncomfortable to sleep on.

That irritated Fujin.

"Oh my god, did we have sex?" she thought. "Did he put a condom on?"

Fujin got off the bed immediately and walked to Raijin's side of the bed. She kicked away the nylon sleeping bag that Raijin was supposed to sleep in last night.

"WAKE UP!" Her voice trembled in the dilapidated cabin. Raijin woke up groggily to see Fujin glaring at him with her arms akimbo above her jeans.

"Morning Fujin," he said sleepily, putting on the sweatshirt that he had used as a blanket. "By the way, what time is it?"

Fujin started to blush, and then she shook her head and perked up her voice.

"SIX FORTY-ONE!" she screamed.

At seven, Fujin and Raijin waited for the security guards to open the gates, while drinking coffee from their thermos.

"The forest's all yours!" the guard said, ushering the duo to enter the forest.

The forest was suddenly alive with the twitter of birds and the squeak of the chipmunks, forming the harmonious orchestra of the forest.

"What are we looking for?" Raijin asked. "I don't wanna hang around here for too long ya know."

"WIMP!" Fujin hissed, leading Raijin deeper into the woods. "We're looking for a creature called Mr. Monkey who will take us to the Fast Forward pass."

"How does this Mr. Monkey look like?" Raijin asked. "I gotta know so I can lend a hand ya know."

"Probably furry and has a tail," Fujin replied briefly.

"You mean this critter over here?" Raijin bent down to pick up a squirrel, eating its acorn, by the tail. The squirrel dropped the acorn and waved its paws hysterically, trying to scratch Raijin's nose. "Aren't ya an adorable one."

"FOOL!" Fujin kicked Raijin on the ankle. Raijin released the squirrel. The squirrel immediately picked up the acorn and scurried away.

"Aw come on, if it wasn't Mr. Monkey I'll keep it as a pet!" Raijin said stupidly, but remembered that he was living with Fujin under the same roof. "Oops, I forgot that you don't like to have fur in your apartment."

"Do you know how a monkey looks like in a first place?" Fujin, with her arms akimbo, sneered at Raijin.

"Uh... furry and has a tail?" Raijin answered dumbly.

"He looks exactly like YOU… YOU… You boorish, dumb, sorry-excuse for a disciplinary committee FOOL!" Fujin screamed, causing a rustle that was vaguely heard at the space that the duo was on. "Something's coming," Fujin whispered and motioned her finger at Raijin to keep quiet. The rustle grew more significant; someone or something must be coming for them. Fujin spun around to anticipate the forthcoming of an unknown assailant. She then looked at Raijin confusedly. Then she saw tiny black hands grabbing Raijin's hair. She gaped, pointing to the creature that was on of Raijin's head; a white-faced monkey with black fur.

"You SUCK!" Mr. Monkey chattered and jigged.

Irritated, Raijin raised his hands silently, attempting to push away the dancing monkey.

"Stupid monkey!"

Two large palms appeared in front of Mr. Monkey. He jumped off just before the hands could touch him.

"You SUCK!" Mr. Monkey stuck out his tongue and pulled his eyelid at Raijin, unaware of another pair of hands that deftly captured him by grabbing his long, furry tail.

"PASS, WHERE!" Fujin demanded, lifting Mr. Monkey off the ground by the tail up to her height, glaring at him.

"Okay, okay!" the talking monkey said. "You don't suck okay? I take back my word for it! Let me down and I'll lead you to the hidden treasure." Mr. Monkey then fell on the dirt with a thud.

The duo followed the monkey to a bush where Mr. Monkey pulled out the green Fast Forward Pass.

"Good luck and don't SUCK!" Mr. Monkey said before disappearing into the thick undergrowth.

"CONGRATULATIONS! You have claimed the Fast Forward. Now you can go directly to the next pit stop: Lord Denithera's Castle in the outskirts of Dollet." Fujin stopped reading and turned to the confused looking Raijin.

"Uh, I think we're lost," Raijin mumbled.


	17. Dollet 8

**Rhondia Island – 7.30 a.m. (Dollet Time)**

Rinoa suddenly woke up from a nightmare. She envisioned Squall and Quistis, jogging together along the golden-sanded beach of Rhondia Island like a couple more intimate than Squall and herself. Her vision then skipped to the next scene, where she was invited to the top of the Belle Lighthouse. The room that housed the lighthouse's spotlight, was all newly painted in white with shades of pink. She climbed to the roof of the lighthouse, where the space was decorated lavishly with fabrics and flowers, Squall and Quistis, in their wedding clothes, kissed each other in front of the ocean. Squall then turned from Quistis to Rinoa and sneered at her.

"Come here darling," he said. Rinoa approached Squall, who soon pulled her by the arm and swung her to the edge of the roof. Rinoa dangled below the roof, holding on to a protruding steel pole with both hands. Quistis then walked to the edge and bent down, grinning at Rinoa devilishly. She lifted up Rinoa's finger one by one. Rinoa eventually fell, and it was that frightening vision of herself falling that woke her up abruptly.

"Squall, wake up!" Rinoa shook Squall's body violently.

"Rinoa, it's still 7 in the morning. Don't get too excited okay?" Squall said sedately in his sleep. 

"Squall I had the most terrible nightmare! Don't you care about me?" Rinoa jabbered in panic. This time Squall woke up irritably.

"Okay, I'll take you for a brief walk by the beach," Squall answered.

At eight, the four teams waited anxiously for the front gate to open. Belle Lighthouse's white-painted exterior seemed glossy under the morning sun.

Seifer and Selphie were then seen jostling towards the lighthouse.

"Oh, we're right on time!" Selphie said out of breath.

"The gay lover has returned to see Squall!" Jack said sarcastically, remembering the game they had played last night.

"What?" Seifer said abruptly at Jack who turned away from Seifer and whistled to himself. King then jabbed Jack on his chest.

The gates flung open and the five teams ran to the entrance that was marked by the yellow and blue flag. They came to a flight of stairs, climbing it one person at a time. Selphie, being the first person to climb the stairs, reached the top of the lighthouse. The room was breezy, as there were no walls but pillars supporting the ceiling. The view of the ocean surrounded the room. At the center of the room, Selphie saw a huge spotlight behind a glass casing. Next to the control panel that operated the spotlight, she found the clue box, and immediately took out one of the envelopes.

"ROADBLOCK!" Selphie said to herself the first word that popped out from the envelope. "Before opening this, choose someone who wants to be on top of the world."

As Seifer surfaces from the stairwell, Selphie approached Seifer excitedly.

"Woohoo! I'm going to bungee-jump!" Selphie cheered.

Seifer looked down from the edge of the wall-less room, goggling at the waves drumming the rocks below the lighthouse.

"Selphie are you sure you'll be okay?" Seifer said.

"Don't worry I've seen people doing this in TV and nobody gets killed. It's safe," Selphie replied smilingly. "I'm going to the roof!" Selphie disappeared into another flight of stairs that ascended toward the roof. Seifer stooped again at the jagged rocks below and began to feel nauseous.

Selphie was now standing at the center of the roof, a flat red disc mounted on top of Belle Lighthouse. Her hair and blouse fluttered freely to the ocean breeze as she stretched out both her arms perpendicular to her body.

"Woohoo! I'm the king... err... queen of the world!" she cried at the spellbinding view of Balamb Continent, a tiny green isle from afar. She put on a safety helmet while the operator attached on her the bungee cord that was fastened to a horizontal pole sticking out of the roof. At the edge of the roof, she saw the dot of a blue mattress for her to land on at the tiny littoral below.

"I'm ready!" She gave a thumb's up to the operator and then inhaled one big heavy breath. "Here goes."

"Selphie!" Seifer yelled from the landing zone, looking up at Selphie who had her arms akimbo. The wind began to pick up again.

He saw Selphie tilting off the roof with her arms stretching away from her body, drifting in the air like an angel and then plunging down parallel to the walls of the lighthouse towards the littoral. He heard Selphie screaming, screaming in exhilaration. As Selphie reached the mattress, oscillating and laughing maniacally, Seifer pushed away the operators to help Selphie to gain her footing.

"Oh I feel dizzy," Selphie said moving her head in circular motion. She then came back to her senses and received the red-colored envelope from the operators.

"You have proven yourself to be king or queen of the world! Proceed to the next pit stop, Lord Denithera's Castle in the outskirts of Dollet!" Selphie said excitedly while waving the paper back and forth. "Last person to check in will be eliminated!"

"See you at the bottom," Quistis, who was the second person to bungee-jump, said to Rinoa. Quistis pushed her feet off the edge of the roof, freefalling to the littoral below. It was Rinoa's turn next, as she nervously put on the helmet, reluctantly walked to the edge of the roof.

Squall tilting his head up with his hand shielding his eyes from the morning sun looking at the edge of the disc-like roof, expecting Rinoa to show up. After the bungee cord had been attached, Rinoa stooped at the waves hitting the rocks below the lighthouse. It was nauseating.

"Oh my goodness, she needs help," Squall thought when he saw Rinoa moving away from his sight. Squall immediately got back to the lighthouse.

"Sir you can't..." Squall pushed a man guarding the entrance of the lighthouse aside.

"Rinoa, you can do it!" Rinoa told herself.

"No, remember the dream? You'll die if you fall," the fear in her said at the same time.

Squall neared Rinoa who was hiding her head in her knees at the center of the circle. Rinoa sensed his presence and turned to him in tears.

"Squall I'm scared!" Rinoa muttered as Squall raised her, comforted her, but she did not expect her boyfriend to push her to the edge of the rooftop, forcing her to fall of the roof, just like in her nightmare. She screamed to sensation of freefalling, and to her it was not exhilarating. It was morbidly terrifying.

"Hey what's that?" Zell said, sitting in a speedboat with Irvine heading for Rhondia Island, as he saw a figure diving in the air from the top of Belle Lighthouse. Zell and Irvine then faced each other in excitement.

"BUNGEE-JUMPING!"

Rinoa finally opened her eyes and found herself, lying on the mattress as the operators undid the knot around her legs. She then sensed the sand's vibration to Squall's heavy footsteps.

"Squall, why did you do that?" Rinoa cried. "You almost got me killed."

Squall did not say anything to soothe Rinoa. He took the envelope on Rinoa's behalf. After reading the clue, they took a boat back to the beach and then, upon reaching the main port, they got into a taxi.

"Squall you could've killed me," Rinoa could not pull back her tears as she expressed her fear that eventually fell onto deaf ears. After a momentary sniffle, she rested her head on Squall's chest and sobbed some more. Squall felt deeply embarrassed as Rinoa's tears wetted his black shirt.

"Get us out of here," he said snidely to the driver, wanting to leave Dollet as soon as possible.

Cid Kramer waited for the teams to arrive at the square of Lord Denithera's Castle, a fortress that was built over 200 years ago after the kingdom of Dollet came into the rule of the dukes led by Lord Denithera, the first duke of the new parliament. The sun moved upward to shine on Fujin's eye patch, running with Raijin towards Headmaster Cid, leaving their backpacks at the gate.

As Fujin and Raijin thudded on the mat, an old woman in medieval Dolletian clothing greeted them. "Bonjour and welcome to Dollet."

"Fujin and Raijin," Cid began. "You're team number one!"

"Glad it paid when we got lost in that forest, ya know." Raijin breathed deeply in relief, wanting to hug Fujin but was rudely shoved away.

"Wow, it's so pretty that it looks like it came out of a storybook!" Selphie remarked as she admired the brick-red castle standing proudly and erect on top of a hill adorned with four great turrets. The road turned bumpy as the taxi traveled up the slope toward the front gate of the fortress. Selphie and Seifer got off the taxi and retrieved their backpacks, ran across the moat and into the fortress to get to Headmaster Cid on the pit-stop mat.

"Seifer and Selphie, you're team number two," Cid told the couple who then cheered triumphantly.

Zell just could not wait to bungee-jump, but after looking down at the small dots below and the sharp rocks surrounding the littoral 1000 feet below the lighthouse, gastric juices started to build. Zell wanted to throw up.

Irvine gaped as he saw Zell retreating from the edge of the roof.

"Dude, are you all right?" he shouted but his voice barely reached to the top of the lighthouse.

Zell then started to think about Seifer to psyche himself. If he were here waiting for the jump he would profusely call him a chicken-wuss and people will start laughing at him, and he pictured it vividly: Seifer standing in front of him mouthing 'chicken-wuss'.

"I'm not a chicken-wuss!" Zell ran to the edge of the roof and jumped off the roof, free-falling towards the landing zone below.

"Woohoo!" Zell cheered as he bounced up and down upon reaching the bottom of the lighthouse.

It was then Edea's turn to bungee-jump.

"Don't let it get to you!" Kadowaki yelled from the littoral at Edea who was already on the roof. After wearing the safety gear, Edea neared the edge of the roof, closed her eyes, and made her once-of-a-lifetime jump that would probably haunt her forever.

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe I did that!" Edea exclaimed when she reached the bottom. Kadowaki started to worry after reading the clue handed to her.

"Come on girl. We've got to go and lead the boys or else we'll be eliminated!" Kadowaki said.

"Rachel and Daniel, you're team number six."

Rachel and Daniel cried out in relief after Cid auspiciously announced the result. Cid then waited again patiently for the arrival of the last two teams. 

Twenty minutes later, a taxi stopped abruptly at the front end of the moat. Cid caught the first glimpse of the person that stepped out of the taxi; straight static blonde hair and a face tattoo, Zell.

"We're ready to hear it," Irvine said after he stepped in front of Cid, wrapping his arm around his pardner. Cid did not say anything until Zell and Irvine stopped huffing and puffing.

"Zell and Irvine." Cid paused to build suspense. "You're team number seven!"

After realizing that they were the second last team, Zell and Irvine hugged each other and cheered.

Zell then spoke to Cid happily, "The next you'll know we'll be winning the one million gil!"

A few minutes later, Edea and Kadowaki were seen running towards the square of Lord Denithera's fortress. The two women wrapped one arm around each shoulder and stomped on the mat together.

"We're here finally hubby," Edea, being Cid Kramer's wife, said, smiling although she was gaunt.

"Edea and Kadowaki, the students back at Balamb Garden really missed you since day one…" Cid said half-heartedly. "And because of that I'm sorry to tell that you both have been eliminated from the race. We'll be sending you two back to Balamb shortly."

Edea then fell her head on Kadowaki's shoulder and sobbed.

"I know it's hard to accept but we'll have to face the fact that we're in competition with teams who are younger and fitter than us," Kadowaki said, making the best out of their loss.

Edea then lifted her head up and wiped off her tears.

"Honey, can you give our best regards to Zell and Irvine 'cause they have been our best friends?" Edea requested.

Edea and Kadowaki half-heartedly entered the van that would transport them back to Dollet and then they would board a Balamb-bound vessel from there.

At the deck of the ship, Edea and Kadowaki set their eyes on the golden city and its splendid five lighthouses for the last time, leaving the thrills of the race for good, but those memories would still remain in their hearts.

_Edea and Kadowaki are the second team to be eliminated from the Amazing Race!_


End file.
